Kathmandu, September 3

The House of Representatives started direct question-answer session with ministers, including prime minister, today.

According to Clause 8 of the HoR regulation,  lawmakers can raise questions of  public importance directly with the prime minister and other ministers.

The first question of the session was kicked off by the main opposition Nepali Congress Lawmaker Sanjay Kumar Gautam asking the Minister of Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel an education-related question.

Gautam asked about the status of the 5 per cent soft loan that the government has announced for those people who can’t afford high level, technical and professional education study. “Does the government really want to work on this programme or it is just propaganda?” Gautam asked.

In reply, Minister Pokharel said the government would apply the programme. “This programme was included in the Plan and Policy of the government and later money for the programme was also allocated in the budget,” the Minister Pokharel said.

Lawmakers Prem Suwal, Birod Khatiwada, Kejulal Chaudhary, Rajendra KC and Amresh Kumar Singh asked follow-up questions related to Gautam’s question. All of them wanted to know about implementation part of the programme.

The Parliament Secretariat has made a schedule for direct question-answer session with ministers. According to the schedule, Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers’ direct question-answer session will be held on Sunday.

Monday’s session  has been allocated to Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

The lawmakers can ask question on Tuesday on the activities of the Ministry of Health and Population, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration and Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply.

Wednesday’s question-answer session will be for Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ministry of Forest and Environment and Ministry of Finance.

Lawmakers will ask questions to the ministers of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Ministry of Youth and Sports on Thursday.

Friday’s question-answer session will be for the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Ministry of Water Supply and Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation.